Belgium trains to run one day a year on solar

Spotted in The Guardian was this story about a Belgium rail tunnel being fitted with 16,000 solar panels.

The tunnel's been built to protect a high speed line from falling tree debris, and avoid having to cut the protected trees down.

The resulting 'tunnel' made an ideal platform on which to mount the solar panels.

Energy produced from the £7.3m installation will be enough they reckon to power all of Belgium's trains for one day a year, which is a slightly less impressive statistic, but nonetheless, a start.

The panels will also help power nearby Antwerp Station

You can read the Guardian's full article here - which also includes a video fly-over of the tunnel project.

It's always easy to knock any renewable project of this scale and cost when the resulting output seems so small by comparison, however, let's be honest here - an electrically driven high-speed locomotive doesn't run on a couple of triple 'A' batteries does it?

photo credit: metro centric

Due to climate change, the train now standing is going nowhere

The BBC reports that a new study by Scientists and Network Rail has revealed that the UK's rail network could be at severe risk from the effects of climate change.

The problem stems from the increased likelihood of landslides and floods, which, during the wet winter of 2000-2001 caused a higher frequency of major problems to the rail network.

Now the report is warning of travel chaos if steps aren't taken to tackle the problem.

One of the most 'at risk' areas is the South-East, where much of the rail network is built on soft clay - particularly prone to landslides.

Network Rail engineers concluded that half of the UK's 6000 miles of railway cuttings and embankments were in a "poor" or "marginal" condition making them especially vulnerable to extreme weather.

Already this year, eight people were injured when a train derailed near Glasgow following a landslide caused by heavy rain, whilst in a separate incident, a rock fall blocked a line in Dorset causing major delays.

Read the full BBC article by clicking here.

photo credit: ray devlin

Holidaymakers 7 times more likely to choose cost over carbon footprint

We're celebrating the short month of February with a week of short posts.

Today's features the Environmental News Network and concerns a survey on important factors when choosing a holiday destination, completed by UK traveler's using Eurostar.

Amongst other things, the survey revealed that the 'cost of getting there' was selected seven times more often than 'carbon footprint'.

The report goes on to quote "raveling by rail is on average three to 10 times less CO2-intensive compared to road or air transport, according to the UIC, a Paris-based international organization of the railway sector.".

Visit Environmental News Network (click here) and see if you should be going green.

photo credit: ell brown